Walking the Walk: The Acoma-Zuni Trial at El Malpais
By Rachel Harmony

SUNDAY, April 30 -- Two thousand to three thousand years ago, lava poured out of McCartys crater. The lava spread over 376,000 miles of land, creating the "Badlands" now known as El Malpais.

Once the lava dried, pahoehoes and a’as formed. Pahoehoes are smoother, ropy-textured lavas, and a’a’as are sharp, jagged lavas that rip up all but the sturdiest hiking boots. A lot of the lava here is a’as. "I thought the rocks I almost broke my ankles on were the most interesting,’’ said Ronya Younes, laughing.

Our group walked for about 30 minutes on the trail. We saw where fissures had been formed. The fissures ranged from 10 to 25 feet deep. If you didn’t watch your step, you could fall down a fissure and you could be injured or killed.

The Zuni and the Acoma people, and before them the ancient people known as the Anasazi, used the Badlands as a trading route. If a Zuni wanted to go to the Acoma pueblo, he would have to cross the lava plain. The trail now is about seven miles long, and not all of it is over surface lava, but it’s all formed by lava.. Many people use the trail to hike or ride horseback. We saw some riders during our hike.

While hiking, we also saw a huge crater-like hole. We found out from Mr. Becker that the crater was a huge lava tunnel that spread over 17 miles. The tunnel was a carrier for lava. Over time, the tunnel weakened and collapsed, forming the crater. The crater is a little like sinkholes that have formed in Allentown. The difference is that the rock here is lava that erodes away at the surface from wind and rain, and not limestone, which washes away under the surface from water flowing underground. In both cases, the result is a hole.

Today, areas around the lava flows are flat, but the height of the lava goes up the farther you go on the trail The dominant vegetation is grazing grassland dottted with sagebrush, different kinds of cactuses and Ponderosa pine, which yields to a forest.

"The idea that we walked on the same trail that the Indians walked on was most interesting to me,’’’ said Lisandra Collazo. The Anasazi left their footprints on the trail we walked on at least 700 years ago.

Back to the photos page!